Because the sky is endless
by RedKetchup
Summary: And you tell yourself that it'll be fine. It'll all be fine. Straw hats and space!AU.


**Okay, so first of all, there are some terms in here that may not make sense. Go ahead and PM me or look them up on google if you're especially curious. Also, point out grammar or spelling errors because I'm too damn lazy to look for them right now.**

**For Butt-chan's birthday! **

**Strawhats in space!AU**

* * *

And you tell himself that you're fine, that it'll all be fine. Things could be worse, things could always be worse, and you repeat that over and over in your head until it becomes a mantra.

It doesn't matter that just days ago you saw Franky caught in that interstellar tank explosion. Never mind that you didn't see the cyborg get up by the time you were ambushed and gagged. It's okay that Nami was fighting off six of those fleet commanders by herself. She has strength, the crew has strength. You trust them.

Forget the fact that every time the doctors -_ liars_ - come back for you or Chopper it may or may not be for something worse than the last time.

Never mind any of that.

"Usopp," Chopper whispers, voice coming out quivering and scared. "Luffy and the others, they're...they're-"

"They're fine. They're coming for us, just you wait." You try to smile at your doctor, try to let him know it's okay.

It's going to be fine, it's going to be just fine.

Chopper crawls as close as he can from across the cell. His chains yank when he reaches just a meter away, and you would stretch your chilled fingers out to grasp the damp fur of your nakama if it wasn't for the fact that they are broken.

_Finefinefinefinefinefinefine_-

You can tell that Chopper is wondering how the others will be okay without their doctor. You just keeps giving reassurances and eased lies.

Because quite honestly? You're just as worried.

* * *

Luffy came crashing into your world with a loud bang. Literally. You're not kidding. The shuttle that was carrying the rubber space adventurer had came soaring into the atmosphere with a tail of flames behind it, leaving a streak across his blue-green sky. There was an explosion that rocked the ground and then a billow of black smoke north of the village.

You followed the trail of debris across the woods and made it to Aki Crater, where you were greeted with the destroyed parts of the shuttle and what you thought were three corpses.

And then the corpses moved.

You may have yelped, or perhaps squeaked an unmanly squeak. If anyone would ever ask, however, you didn't let out such a noise.

A series of terrifying, slightly - _slightly, mind you_ - embarrassing moments later and suddenly you were introduced to the first space pirates to land on his moon in about seventeen or eighteen years. The first since your dad left with Shanks,_ the_ Shanks.

"That's Zoro," the one with the mugiwara boshi said with a smile, pointing at a slightly smoldering figure. "If you call him Zolo he gets really mad."

The so-called Zoro-not-Zolo made an angry growling noise from behind his oxygen mask, which he was still struggling to get off his face. You noticed not one, but three long objects strapped to his side. You tried to identify what they were. They looked old, like something from Old Earth. You were still staring when Zoro managed to dislodge the broken mask from his head.

"Luffy!" He had this snarl that made your stomach churn uneasily. You tried to distract yourself from it by staring at his shock of green hair. You wondered if Zoro was human or just a species with a human appearance.

Mugiwara laughed. "See? I told you. He gets mad real easy and-"

"Oh my God, those are swords. You're carrying around real swords. I didn't even know

those are made anymore. Are you...are you the bounty hunter_ Roronoa Zoro_?" You choked out, feeling your palms get sweaty. You gripped your wrist rocket hard enough to make your knuckles white.

The look Zoro made right then was enough to make you step back. You'll never forget that moment. It was the day you received the impression that Zoro had something deep inside, something fierce and not-entirely human resting inward.

_Later, just a little bit later, when the red star was rising in the west over Syrup Moon, Roronoa Zoro will pull his swords on his opponent, and his eyes are wild. You will admire from afar, because there's no such thing as a savage that has ever been so in-control ._

_Roronoa Zoro may be bloodthirsty and fierce, but he controls the beast. Not the other way around._

At that moment, the girl decided to make an appearance. She crawled out from inside the still slightly in-one-piece shuttle, stumbling out over the ashes and pieces of machinery. She took a glance around the crater with a critical eye, and then she pressed something on the black band on her wrist. A hologram of a map appeared in front of her, and her brow furrowed as she read it.

"Nami, look! I told ya we would make it out alive!" Mugiwara laughed, hands on either side of his burnt vest.

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Is that so?"

You swallowed, unnerved by her irritation.

And that was how Mugiwara no Luffy came crashing into your world. Or your moon, whatever.

You envision the hat that rests upon Luffy's head and think that not even a crown would be more suiting for such a fearless man. You remember how the day you met him you thought,_ Is this what a true warrior of space, of the galaxies and stars and the planets, is_?

Now you think of that question and you instantly know that the answer is_ no, no it's not_. It's what a king is.

* * *

The whole crew has similar stories. Luffy accidentally fired a blaster through the Baratie station. If it wasn't for the field of oxygen surrounding the space restaurant then they probably would have accidentally killed everyone in the ship, including their cook.

You remember Nami's island. You remember the space pirates that were controlling the planet. The high levels of water were perfect conditions for them, considering they came from a terrestrial planet covered in a layer of water.

You mainly remember Nami. The way she pushed her hand against your underbelly and drove the dagger into her own flesh. You remember the tears that spilled down her dirtied face, or the desperation that was hidden behind fake smiles. You picture the anger, the complete and bitter hatred that was layered in her amber eyes.

You especially remember your anger, and Sanji's anger, and Zoro's. You enjoyed the anger that Luffy had, because it was the same anger that took down Kuro and Krieg. It's the anger that spills blood and makes things better, if not right.

It was the anger that gripped Nami's wrist tight and stopped the knife from digging into the mark on her shoulder. It was the anger that claimed each every one of them and made them his.

Yes, Luffy's anger is a vivid memory in your mind. It's not something easily explained, so you'd rather remember it than explain it.

_"This is not for the likes of you to get involved. You're just making things harder than Nami needs," the blue-haired girl, Nami's sister, tells you. "Get your captain and leave. There's other things out there, things pirates like. I'm sure you can find a brothel or some casinos on another planet."_

_She's angry, which explains why she is saying stuff that doesn't quite seem like something she would say. You figure that if you were her you'd be upset, too. You haven't even known Nami for that long and you still have a sense of duty towards her, you can't imagine how the sister is feeling._

_"Ah, well you see, Luffy isn't the type for stuff like that, brothels and the such," you reply. You don't even think Luffy is into sex. Or romantic relationships._

_Nojiko glares. "Oh?"_

_You shrug nervously. "You see, Luffy's the type for...uhm, well he's the type for-"_

_"For nakama," Sanji, the new guy interrupts. He thinks for a moment. "And meat."_

This pattern went on for a majority of their adventures. They found Princess Vivi of the twin Desert planets, they rescued Chopper, some reindeer that was experimented with human DNA, from the life of isolation of the winter asteroids. You and the others picked up the dark mystery that is Robin. You had to battle over Merry, everyone's home and nakama. The Class Freighter that wasn't even in any type of category sine Kaya's butler built it himself.

_You - Sogeking, actually - battled with the others for Robin's life in the government sector, Enies Lobby. You burned down the government's emblem at the command of Luffy._

_You begged Luffy to get up and fight, even took off the mask and shouted at him. You offered to take his place in battling Lucci, the crossbreed of some leopard and human._

_Luffy's skin is pink and steaming, dripping with blood, and for once you don't know if Luffy has enough strength to finish this fight._

_But that's ridiculous, because he's their captain and he'd be damned if he let you fight an opponent too strong for you._

_Because that's what nakama do._

Franky, the cyborg who fought with you all at Enies Lobby, Thousand Sunny, the transport ship that took up Merry's job of carrying them around the 'verse, and Brook, the living skeleton trying to reunite with the space whale that you all had a run-in with at the Cape.

You've seen some strange things on the Grandline. Living things, non-living things, things that shouldn't be living but are. Nebula that are made of fire and stars of candy. You thought you saw it all, but then there was the Ursa.

Kuma caught the crew at Thriller Bark, the huge space ark that was thought to be a planet for God's sake. The Ursa nearly killed all of you right there, and he nearly left a corpse that would have been Zoro if it wasn't for Zoro's amazing life source. Zoro didn't die though, and you thought things were okay, that things were going to get better because you've won another battle and you've lived another day.

You think of second chances and how they're not always for the people you care for. Kuma got a second chance, and some nights, like when you're chained in a cell and praying that Chopper comes back from the place he was taken to, you try and picture what it would be like if the crew never met the Ursa in the first place.

(No, no, no. You -_ the whole crew_ - needed Kuma, as much as it hurts to think so.

You see images of Mugiwara no Luffy with titles of "WAR AT MARINEFORD" on newsgrams, and you try to piece together the shards that were your heart.)

You hear footsteps, and you try to crawl towards the bars blocking your freedom. You can barely make it there, but you do and you hold your breath as you wait for Chopper to be brought back.

It would have been easier, you believe, if it had only been you taken hostage.

* * *

They injected something in your arm, and now you're strapped down on some lab table and shaking like you're falling apart. You black out every so often, but you're always dragged back to reality by the slapping of a hand across your face or a particularly painful, involuntary jolt. You're hot and sweating, and sometimes you're gagging. The lights become too bright and the doctors - no, they're liars. You can tell a liar when you meet one - soften around the edges.

"You're doing well," one says, and it sounds like it's coming from the other side of a tunnel. "You're giving us good results."

You try to think of anything, anything at all besides this.

You think of the noise your hammer made when it was reapplying panels to Merry's siding. You picture story nights and the way Robin's voice can lull anyone to sleep. You wonder about Sanji and Zoro fighting, about Nami running away with you from mutant turtles, about Brook's old, electric violin and the noise it makes. You remember Franky showing Chopper how to burp the alphabet after drinking three bottles of cola.

You settle for Luffy. Luffy and his grins. Broad and toothy beams. Determined and smug smirks. Sleepy, content smiles that rest on his face when he's in his bunk and sleeping so soundly that the world could end and he'd never know.

Every space fleet and bounty hunter is chasing Luffy and the crew across the 'verse. They could be killed before they come for you, and you and Chopper would be left to this until you died.

But you know better, because two years may not mean anything to anyone else, but to you and the others it means the world.

* * *

When they do come, you're suffering from a disorienting, drunk-kind of aftereffect. It sucks, because half of the cool stuff that happens you think is a hallucination.

Armed guards are firing phasers and the sounds of matter cannons rings in your ears. Walls and floors shake with explosions, and at some point a misfire explodes your cell.

You lay on the ground, staring at a shaking ceiling and believing you're dead when a worried, fur-covered face pops into your vision. You can't hear the words, but you try to follow Chopper's lips.

He's feeling your body and yanking at the chains on your wrists. You stare at his blue nose the whole time. He shakes you at some point, and you want to tell him that shaking won't make you any more sober, but then you realise that he's wriggling you out of some rubble.

Splotches of color fills your vision. You hear shouting and commands on an intercom. It's nothing that bothers you so you decide to close your eyes.

"Usopp! Usopp, stay awake! You can't sleep! They came for us, Usopp! Just as you said! So… so… stay awake!"

There's music playing somewhere, something that sounds like Binks' Sake. You smile, easing away into some place quieter.

But then there is a shout. It shakes the walls, makes things come back into focus. Chopper's hooves are pressed hard over his ears, and you realise you would do the same if you could feel your hands.

Except you don't want to. The shout comes ringing again, even being picked up on the intercom, coming out ringing and sharp.

"USOPP! CHOPPER! WE'RE HERE FOR YOU!" Luffy screams, always screaming and shouting. Always loud.

You're grinning, struggling out of the rubble on your left arm. You feel giddy, and you figure, why not answer?

"ABOUT TIME! COME SAVE US!"


End file.
